First Meeting
by Mizuki99
Summary: They had met once before the Ring Conflicts—before the Cradle, even. Tsunayoshi often wonders if he remembers but doesn't question it. Drabble. X27 preslash if you squint really hard. Rated for implied violence. Now a two-shot.
1. First Meeting - Tsuna

**_Author's Note:_** I question my own sanity at times... so the basic point of this story is that Tsuna was the one to kill Federico in self-defense but Xanxus was the one to reduce him to bone and that's why the Ninth had to go to Japan. Since it's implied that Xanxus was the one to kill Federico, I thought 'what the hell' and put my own twist on it. This took me all of twenty minutes to write and I'm debating the merits of writing a follow up. Well... we shall have to see, yes?

I don't know if this could be considered X27... preslash maybe? I guess it depends on the reader's viewpoint.

"_Blah_" - Italian  
"_Blah_" - Japanese incorporated in Italian sentences  
"**_Blah_**" - Specific emphasis  
'_Blah_' - Thoughts/Intuition

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They had met once before the Ring Conflicts—before the Cradle, even. Tsunayoshi often wonders if he remembers it but doesn't question it.

It had started out as an ordinary day, skipping along the path he usually took to school when a black car pulled up behind him and a man jumped out. He had fought and staggered under his weight, a hand clasping over his air passages so he couldn't scream. There was a cloth that had a strange smell on it that made something in Tsuna's mind scream '_DON'T BREATHE IT IN!_'

But he couldn't hold his breath for long and the moment he did breathe, his vision faded to black.

When he woke up, he was in a strange place and his head felt funny. He felt cold and very thirsty. He tried to move his head but it took too much work so he closed his eyes again to try to get the room to stop spinning like it did after Papa threw him in the air. When it did, he opened his eyes again but he was still cold.

There was a man standing over him. He was ugly but not in the physical sense. Tsuna couldn't really tell _how_ he was ugly, all he knew was that he was. His hair was the same color as honey and it was slicked back. He spoke with strange words that Tsuna had never heard before.

His body had moved of its own accord the moment he saw him. He had shot up out of the chair with speed that wasn't his. He had kicked something—a bucket?—and there was a splashing sound like water hitting the floor. Tsuna had ripped something off of his arm—no, more like _out_ of his arm—and lunged for the ugly man. He grabbed for something in his haze and thrust it upward, into the man's throat.

It was a knife.

Red covered them both and the man's dying screams gurgled to a stop.

Tsuna panted with exertion as the haze that caused his body to move dimmed but didn't fade. Something whispered in his ear and he turned to look at an enshrouded place. His vision was tinted with an orange hue so he could see in the dark. It should have been weird but it wasn't. The door burst open to reveal someone with the same orange glow that he had seen on his own tiny hands before. There was another man with white hair and a blue tint standing behind him and a boy that was maybe a year older than Tsuna with blond hair that covered his eyes and a red tint.

"_Who are you?_" Tsuna asked, speaking in the same funny words that the man had used.

"_Nakama_." Comrade. The one with the orange tint said this. "_We are allies._" There was no cold feeling that Tsuna got when someone told him a lie. He was telling the truth. Tsuna stood up and walked over to them. He saw the leader—because that was what the orange tint signified, he knew—approach him warily. He knelt down. "_You have power._"

"_As do you._"

"_You are too young._" He said, raising his tinted hand. The tint took on a different form though. It was a flame now, not a cloak of color that covered his whole body—though the other was still there. "_I will seal it. Are you alright with that?_"

"_No!_" Tsuna reared back, the haze overcoming him again. His eyes flashed dangerously and he held up his hands. He cried out with pain when the haze turned into a burn that focused on his hands where he tried to turn his own tint into a flame but he ignored it for the sake of questioning the man in front of him. "_How do I know that you won't do the same as he tried to do?_" Tsuna demanded, his voice becoming shrill. The blue one and the red one both flinched.

"_Because I have the same power as you. Because we are nakama, as you say._"

"_That means nothing._" Tsuna hissed. "_That man had the same power. He tried to do the same._" Because he did. Because he was ugly.

"_I have more honor than he does—did._" He quickly corrected. "_I do not kill children. **He** is testament to that._" He jerked his chin towards the blond with the red tint.

Again, there was no frost. He was telling the truth. "_…name…_" Tsuna said quietly.

"_Hm?_"

"_What is your name?_" Tsuna repeated, louder, firmer.

He seemed to debate this for a moment. "_Xanxus,_" He finally said.

"_Xanxus…_" He repeated, tasting the name himself. "_Very well._" He closed his eyes. "_I accept my fate._"

Xanxus looked at him through crimson eyes before he called on that tint again and pressed it against Tsuna's. There was a flash of heat before he collapsed to his knees and all faded to black.

The next time Tsuna had woken up, he was in his own bed and there was no more blood on him. He didn't feel cold and his vision had returned to normal. There was no trace of the man—_Xanxus_, he corrected but Tsuna could still feel his flame coursing through his veins. It was hot but not in a bad sense. It didn't burn like Tsuna's flame had when he tried to materialize it.

"Tsu-kun! It's time to go to the airport to pick up Papa's boss!" His mother called into the house. Tsuna blinked and sat up.

"Hai!" Tsuna chirped in response, getting up and heading down the stairs. His clothes must have been changed while he was asleep because they were no longer covered with red.

And as they piled into the rental car, Tsuna wondered if he was going to see Xanxus again.

_**Owari.**_

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**_Thanks for reading~!_**


	2. First Meeting - Xanxus

**_Author's Note:_** THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR MUSE IS SITTING RIGHT ACROSS FROM YOU! It's all her fault, really.

I wrote Xanxus' POV.

"_Blah_" - Italian  
"_Blah_" - Japanese incorporated in Italian sentences  
"**_Blah_**" - Specific emphasis  
'_Blah_' - Thoughts/Intuition

* * *

Xanxus remembered that day clearly—though he'd rather shoot himself in the foot than tell the brat that. He had been so disgusted by Federico's actions that he had been slightly disappointed that he wasn't the one to kill him. That was alright though. He was content with having reduced him to bone so the true cause of death was never discovered.

He had arrived at the warehouse in time to hear his brother scream's die out. It smelled of blood and anticoagulant chemicals. There was a kid sitting on his chest, straddling it, as he twisted the knife one last time. The kill was far from clean and the boy left his fingerprints behind but there was something about him that made Xanxus stand on edge. Maybe it was the orange eyes or the burning flame… or maybe it was the bucket of blood that was lying kicked over three feet away from them. Either way, it made every hair on the back of Xanxus' neck stand on edge.

He felt Squalo and Bel shift uneasily on either side of him when the kid spoke. "_Who are you?_" His Italian was fluent enough.

"_Nakama. We are allies._" Best to opt for the truth in the face of someone who was being driven by instinct alone. Xanxus knew that much from the way the kid held himself. His amber eyes narrowed as he processed the words. Xanxus shifted his stance to that of submission. He noticed his Storm and Rain do the same but the kid didn't seem to notice or care. "_You have power._"

The response was immediate. "_As do you._"

"_You are too young._" Xanxus raised a flame infused hand slowly as not to spook him. The last thing they needed was an unnecessary kill after all. He felt Bel shift again and sent him a warning glare. "_I will seal it. Are you alright with that?_"

"_No!_" The response was violent and he reared back in defense, raising his hands which immediately began to blister. He heard the kid hiss in pain and took a wary step forward to shield them from the backlash. Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—this kid had an intuitive grasp on his flame. "_How do I know that you won't do the same as he tried to do?_" He demanded, his voice becoming shrill. Xanxus masked a wince but Bel and Squalo weren't so reserved. He could feel their tension rising as the seconds mounted. He sent a warning flare through his Will and prayed to whatever deity watching over them that the kid didn't sense it.

If he did, there was no reaction.

"_Because I have the same power as you. Because we are nakama, as you say._" He said trying aim for a more placating angle.

"_That means nothing._" Tsuna hissed. "_That man had the same power. He tried to do the same._"

He tried to do more than that if the blood pooling the ground was any sort of testament. Now that he could see the kid more clearly, he could see that there was a thin stream of blood that was continuously flowing on his arm where the needle had been injected. Had Federico tried to drain him of his blood? Did that mean that this kid was Vongola?

Xanxus should have known.

"_I have more honor than he does—did._" He quickly corrected. "_I do not kill children. **He** is testament to that._" He jerked his chin towards Bel whose eyes narrowed behind his fringe.

The boy fell quiet as though debating whether or not to trust them. The moments ticked on before his lips moved almost inaudibly. "_…name…_"

"_Hm?_" Xanxus shifted.

"_What is your name?_" He repeated, louder this time. His stance had shifted to one that demanded retribution should Xanxus choose not to tell him. Xanxus resisted the urge to snort and gave it a moment's debate.

Best not to tempt fate, he thought.

"_Xanxus._"

"_Xanxus…_" He repeated. "_Very well._" He said, his own stance shifting to one of submission. He bowed his head but kept his throat guarded. It was as close as he was going to get and Xanxus took the chance. "_I accept my fate._"

Xanxus approached him warily, his flame burning on the end of his finger and he pressed it to the young but vibrant Sky flame flickering on his forehead. He felt the boy shudder and gasp before he collapsed forward. Xanxus caught him before he hit the floor and pulled him into his arms. "Squalo. Take him to Lussuria and have his blood replenished. Have Mammon alter the mother's memories so she believes that he was at school but came home sick in the middle of the day and immediately was put down for a nap."

"What are you going to do, boss?" Bel asked.

"I'm going to set this place ablaze. It's best not to have the authorities barking up the wrong trees. As far as anyone will know, he died in the fire." Xanxus replied.

He was meticulous, setting up the warehouse fire. When he finally got back to the hotel, Lussuria had already changed his clothes and sedated him. "I've altered his memories of us but there is little I can do about the confrontation in the warehouse." Mammon said. "There is something protecting them."

'_The Vongola Intuition…_' Xanxus mused. "He won't remember." He finally stated. "When I sealed his flame, I made sure to seal his memories." That was a lie, of course, since only those of Vongola Blood could control their flames to that level and even then, the seal hadn't been for his flame specifically. It had only been for the predatory nature that the flame supplied. It would awaken again, someday, but at least he wouldn't feel the need to dominate everyone who opposed him.

"What are we going to do with him?" Levi asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Xanxus sneered. It was astounding how stupid his Lightning could be. "I'm going to put him back where he belongs. I don't kill kids." Xanxus knelt down and pulled the slumbering child into his arms. He was far too light in Xanxus' opinion. "If he becomes a problem later then we'll worry about it then."

"As you please," Levi said, lowering his gaze in submission. Xanxus sneered again and vanished with speed that only he could muster.

When he got to the right address, Xanxus laid the kid down gently on the bed and made it look like he had been tossing in his sleep as he would have done if he had a fever. He heard shifting behind the door and hid himself in the closet. "Mou! Iemitsu… I told you not to go up there. Tsu-kun is sleeping!" The mother hissed from behind the door. Xanxus felt himself stiffen at the name of the External Adviser. Was this his son?

Fucking _figures_!

Xanxus cursed under his breath. It was too late to escape now. The door was already opening. "See? I told you!" Nana hissed, smacking her husband on the chest. "Now shoo." She shoved him out, ignoring his spluttered protests…

…and had Xanxus not been who he was, he would have missed the glance that was sent in his direction.

"But Nana-channn~!" He whined. Xanxus almost scoffed. "I want to see my darling son!"

Yep. That confirmed it.

But it was also a warning. _Stay away from him._ Xanxus wondered what would happen if he gave the smug bastard the finger. He didn't stick around to find out. As soon as the door closed, Xanxus took his chance and vanished into the shadows like the assassin he was.

_**Owari.**_

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**_Thanks for reading~!_**


End file.
